—Babel, Great Hall.
Guests arrived in steady succession, every single one a dignitary of international stature rarely seen even at the World Council.
(Kaios, the reigning king of the Dwarf Nation, Dvelb; Avery Renren Lorelei, the current queen of the Elf Nation, Lorelei; and—wait, seriously? Even Musashi, the Vice King and supreme authority of the great eastern nation of Butou, is here?!)
The King of Amelia—Edward Roto Amelia—fought with all his might to keep his cheek from twitching, maintaining an amiable smile as he muttered internally. And small wonder. Not only the major powers, but a considerable number of smaller nation representatives who were initially expected to decline had shown up. The Glitnir Empire was likely the only real absentee.
A single, potent emotion drove these figures who shouldered the governance of the world: sheer curiosity. Taking their designated seats, they held their breath, eyes riveted on the entrance.
Then, the very individuals giving Edward the worst headache of this ceremony made their entrance.
Filing into the room was the party of the Amelia Kingdom's Hero—Mashiro.
At the head was the Hero Mashiro, a gorgeous girl with long, glossy black hair. Behind her followed Hijiri, a handsome holy knight with red hair styled in an undercut, and Satoru, a handsome, black-haired boy and Sage. Yet walking right alongside Mashiro was another unexpected presence: Edward's second princess, Louise, accompanied by her Royal Guard, the strongest hunter, Isaac Gizdoor.
From the looks of it, Louise had joined hands with the Hero Mashiro's party. This was undoubtedly the intervention Johannes had mentioned. While Louise did possess the strongest hunter in Isaac Gizdoor, the opposing factions featured that notorious younger brother of his, Knut, and Rose's Royal Guard—the most terrifying monster in history, Kai Heinemann.
Knut and Kai Heinemann drastically exceeded the boundaries of the Human Race. Formidable as Isaac Gizdoor was in the hunter world, he was still categorized as human, leaving a noticeable gap in raw power. Bringing in the Hero Mashiro—a fellow freak of nature—to back Louise had likely been done to balance the scales.
Next, a tall, handsome young man with long crimson hair strode in, clad in crisp, resplendent white attire with a broad scarlet sash slung from shoulder to waist. Trailing behind him were a muscular, sharp-eyed man with cropped hair and a raven-haired beauty in maid attire. It was Edward's younger brother, Knut.
Knut approached Edward and settled into the seat beside him.
"Why, hello, Brother. How have you been feeling?"
He offered the greeting with utter insincerity.
"Thanks to all this, stress is about to burn a hole right through my stomach."
To Edward's sarcasm, Knut merely gave a perfunctory reply, entirely unfazed.
"Yes, yes. I'm glad to see you in good spirits."
"..."
"By the way, Brother, will Rose's little Royal Guard boy be attending?"
"No. Rose and her Royal Guard have stated their intention to be absent."
That was practically the only saving grace of holding this ceremony. If that walking powder keg of a monster were to cross paths with both Knut and Mashiro, a catastrophic nightmare was guaranteed. With Kai Heinemann out of the picture, the event would at least be spared a bloody, fratricidal bloodbath.
"Absent, is he...? What a pity. I was hoping to see for myself what kind of fellow had the nerve to brainwash our Gil so thoroughly."
Though a smile remained plastered on Knut's face, his eyes held none of it. Ever since they were young, Knut had favored Gil above all of Edward's biological children. And now, that very same Gil was about to declare himself the king of monsters and the demon race. To a human supremacist like Knut, Kai Heinemann was an utterly unforgivable existence.
"They have arrived."
At the sound of a voice behind him, Edward glanced over his shoulder to find the towering, black-haired Johannes standing there. How long had he been present? Edward hadn't sensed even a flicker of his presence. Knut's two subordinates also stiffened, visibly startled as they braced themselves before Johannes.
A thunderous cheer erupted across the hall. At the center of every gaze, a handsome blond youth had just made his entrance, flanked by two attendants and leading a retinue of monsters and demons.